Redskins rip Greg Schiano for victory formation crashing

The one advantage the Redskins have, like the Cowboys last week, is that this is not a surprise.

“That’s who he is. You can’t be upset if you know what somebody’s going to do. Just telling our offensive line when we get in that position: Go out there and fire off on them as well, because you know they’re going to do it,” linebacker Lorenzo Alexander said. “You’ve got to respect it because you know he’s going to do it.”

The Redskins, by and large, don’t seem to respect Schiano’s infamous strategy much. Coach Mike Shanahan, asked about it after the Bucs did it to the Giants, said he has seen similar situations, but more in college.

“It’s kind of a fine line when you’re making decisions as a head coach, what you think you should do,” Shanahan said. “Personally, I wouldn’t have done it.”

If the Redskins ever were to do it, it would not come as a surprise to the opposing offensive line if Golston had anything to say about it.

“I think as a defensive lineman you almost have to alert the offensive linemen like, ‘Listen, we’re coming.’ I’ve actually been involved in plays like that where we’re trying to get the ball back at the end of the game,” Golston said. “That’s what I think the professional thing to do is is just to let them know that, ‘We’re coming off, so protect yourself.’ “

That’s the kind of professional courtesy that the Redskins‘ offensive linemen would like to think happened in the Bucs-Giants game. Lichtensteiger said he would appreciate the heads-up if opponents were willing to do it.

“That’s just a situation where, if you don’t tell the offensive linemen that you’re going to do that, you literally are putting them in a situation to hurt somebody,” Black said.

When it comes down to it, the Redskins are ready, and several players made clear to point out that they’d be happy to have to deal with Tampa Bay blitzing in that situation because it would mean they wrapped up a win.

But that doesn’t mean there’s a whole lot of support for Schiano among Redskins players, who know there could be retribution down the line.

“They’re certainly entitled to do whatever they want to, but I don’t know if there’s going to be consequences,” Lichtensteiger said. “At some point somebody’s going to do it back. You just kind of open yourself up to retaliation.”